Washing machine



Patented Mar. 24, 1925.

PATENT OFFICE.

SEEN I. WATT, 0F SEATTLE, WASHINGTON.

WASHING MACHINE.

Application filed March 26, 1924. Serial No. 702,014.

To all-whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, SERN P. WATT, a citizen of the vUnited States, residing at Seattle, in the county of King and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Washing Machines, of which the following is a specification. e

This invention relates to washing machines and its object is the provision of a machine of this character which w1`ll be simple and convenient to use and will serve to effectively wash clothes or other fabrics without subjecting the same to wear by rubbing or pounding.

More specific objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following specification.

The invention consists in the novel con-` struction, adaptation and combination of parts hereinafter describedand claimed.

In the accompanying drawing,

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of a washing machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the machine taken substantially on line 2-2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fig. l with a portion of the perforated floor broken away to disclose the partition or baflie members. Figs. 4 and 5 are detail sectional views o f the fluid impeller with the shoe element thereof shown in its lower and upper positions respectively. Fi 6 is a fragmentary elevation of the macine, partly in section, said view being taken from the side of the machine opposite that in which it is illustrated in Fi 1.

In said drawing, the reference numeral 10 represents, generall a shell or casing which is divided by a partition, consisting of two baffle members 11 and 12 to provide an upper receptacle or chamber 13,' and a lower receptacle 14, hereinafter designated as the sump. The chamber is designed to receive the. clothes to be washed and may be of any suitable size or shape.

The sump 14 which serves as a reservoir for the washing fluidwater or suds-is of suitable size and of a semi-cylindrical shape as shown. Formed or provided at the bottom of said sump is a gutter. 15 disposed transversely of the machine and having an outlet 16 provided with a valve 17.

Extending upwardly from said partition at about the midwidth of the tub is a wall proximately one-half 18 which cooperates with lshelf elements'19 The baffles 1l and 12 zontal and of widths wall 18 at the center opposite side walls 21 are preferably horito extend from the and are each of apthelength of the bottom i of the chamber. Said baiiles are furthermore disposed oneat the front and the other at the rear of the casing as shown in Fig. 3 so as to afford sages A and B disposed in diagonal relation with respect te the bottom of the chamber 13. ese passages, it is to benoted, provide communication between the front and rear portions respectively of the sump with the spaces at opposite sides of the wall 18 below the floor including cavities A1 and B1 between the baffles l1, 12 and the floor 20.

Rigidly secured to the opposite side walls of the casing are reinforcing plates 22 which are provided adjacent their upper ends with axially aligned trunnions 23which are journaled in bearing boxes 24 provided on the machine frame 25 so that the casing will oscillata :freely thereon.

Subjacent to said trunnions and parallel with the axis thereof, the plates 22 4are formed to provide journal bearings for a shaft 26 which is located to be concentric of the arcuate wall 27 of the sump` 14. Said shaft extends transversely through the sump and serves as a fulcrum for a blade 28 provided within the sump.

This blade, hereinafter termed the impeller, is of a length slightly less than the distance between the side walls 29 of the sump and of a depth to extend within a short distance `of the arcuatewall 27 of the sump: As best shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the impeller is formed or provided at its lower edge with oppositely disposed flanges 30 which serve as hanger elements to support a tubular shoe 31 of an oblong shape in transverse section. The Width of the shoe, preferably, is somewhat greater than the maximum width of the gutter 15, and is prevented from entering the latter by means of the impeller flanges 30.

Buttons, pins o1' other articles falling intoy the sump are carried by the impeller into said gutter, the relative upward movement of the shoe with respect to the blade per mits the impeller to pass over an article openings or pasof the casing to the i even though the path of the shoe should the article fail to enter fairly into the gutter. The shaft end which protrudes from the casing serves as a crank pin which is connected by a connecting rod 33 with the pin 34 of a crank arm 35 of a shaft 36.

rlhe effective length of the crank arm 35 is less than the distance between the axis of the trunnions Q3 and that of the shaft Q6.

Rigidly mounted upon the crank shaft 36 is a worm wheel 3T which is rotated by a worm 38 whose shaft 39 carries a pulley 40 which is rotated by means of an endless belt 41 from a driving pulley 42 of a motor 4Q) secured to the machine frame.

Exterior-ly of the casing, the impeller shaft 26 has rigidly secured thereto a crank arm 44 whose axis is disposed in a plane with the axis of the blade 28 as represented in Figs. l and G. The pin 45 of the crank arm 44 is connected by a rod or link 46 with a pin 47 secured to a bracket element 48 of the frame. 49 represents a housing for the worm and worm wheel above mentioned. f

The operation of the invention is as follows: The material to be washed is placed in the chamber 'i3 and suflicient washing fluid to secure the proper action is supplied through said chamber into the sump comartment14 of the machine.

The motor 43 is then started to elfect the rotation of the crank shaft 86 whereby motion is imparted through the connecting rod 33 to the shaft 2li for oscillating the casing 10. l

Thevconnecting rod 33, it is to be noted, effects a reciprocatory arcuate travel to the shaft 26 which by reason of the connection of the latter to the crank arm 44 which in turn is connected by the link 4G to a stationary pin 47 causes the impeller to be swung in a direction opposite to that in which the 'casing is oscillated. v

The relative motions of the casing and the impe-ller will be understood from an inspection of Fig. 6 in which it is assumed the casing is moving in the direction 1ndicated by arrow C the resultant motion of the impeller will be that indicated by direction arrow D.

Under such conditions the water or suds in the sump is caused to surge upwardly at the front and rear but since. the baffles 11 and 12 successively obstruct the fluid, the latter can only ascend through the passages A and B alternately at opposite sides of the sump.

These passages A and B, moreover, by communicating with the cavities A1 and B1, respectively, cause the fluid to be conducted and delivered through the perforated floor 2() at the right and left hand sides, alternately, of the wall 18.

vthe latter be uptnrned into Bysuch `devices the fluid is forced upwardly through the material at one side of the machine and sucked downwardly through the material at the other side of the machine during one stroke of the connecting rod 33 and. vice versa during the next following stroke of the connecting rod, and so on, to produce a most effective and rapid washing operation. The eliiciency of the washer' being largely due to the peculiar positioning of passages diagonally of each other at opposite sides of the cavities l1 and 1:2, which causes the washing water to act against the material and at.

different portions thereof with simultaneously applied suction and propulsion effects. Such actions of the water with respect to the material acts continuously during the operation of the machine in changing the relative positions of the material with respect to the perforated floor.

NVhile I have illust lated and described an'embodiment of the invention now preferred by nie, I do not wish to confine myself specifically thereto except as limited in the following claims.

What I. claim, isy l. In a washing machine, a casing mounted for oscillation, a perforated floor dividing the casing interiorly into a washing chamber and a sump for a washing fluid, means for imparting oscillatory motion to said casing, an impeller blade mounted for swinging movements in said sump, and means to impart swinging movements to said blade simultaneously with and in directions opposite to the movements of the casing.

2. In a washing machine, a casing mounted for oscillation, a perforated floor dividing the casing interiorly into a washing chamber and a sump for a washing fluid, an impeller blade mounted for swinging movements in said sump, means to effect the oscillation of the casing, means to impart swinging movements to said blade in directions opposite to the direction of movements of the casing whereby bodies of the fluid are forced alternately upwardly at the front and rear ends of the sump, and b'aflie devices for causing upwardly moving bodies of the fluid to pass through the floor into said chamber substantially the entire length of the chamber and at opposite sides thereof alternately.

3. In a washing machine, an oscillatoryr casing, a perforated floor dividing thecasing interiorly into a material receiving chamber and a sump for a washing fluid, said sump having an arcuate wall, a shaft extending through said sump and mounted in the casing for arcuate movement with the casing, an impeller blade secured to said shaft within the sump, means for vimparting oscillatory motion to said casing, the axis of oscillation of the casing being located above the -e-all 18 and at opposite ends of the respective baffles and lli axis of said shaft, and means operatively connected to said shaft and rendered operable by the oscillatory motion of the casing whereby said blade causes the fluid to be forced to4 and from the sump through diiierent portions of the Hoor during successive oscillatory movements of the casing.

4. In a washing machine, -a casing, a pel'- forated i'loor dividing the interior of the casing into a washing chamber anda semicircular sump, said sump being provided in its arcuate wall with a gutter, a shaft extending through said sump axially of the arc of said wall, an impeller blade secured to said shaft and extending radially therefrom, said impeller blade being of less width than the radius of the arcuate wall of the sump, a shoe carried by said blade and serving as a packing therefor with respect to the arcuate wall of the sump, said shoe being arranged for movement radially of the shaft to permit the shoe passing over a foreign article received within said sump, and means operatively connected to the shaft for imparting vibratory motion to said blade.

5. A washing machine comprising a frame, a casing mounted on said frame for oscillatory motion, a perforated floor dividing the interior of the casing into a sump and a washing chamber, a longitudinally disposed wall extending downwardly from said floor at approximately the midwidth of the casing, a baffle rovided below the oor at each side of saidpwall, one of said baiiles being located at the front end and the other baffle at the rear end of the casing, means to impart oscillatory motion to said casing, a shaft extending transversely through said sump, an impeller blade extending radially of said shaft. within the sump, a crank arm provided upon said shaft exterorly of the casing, a crank pin for said crank arm, and a rod connecting the pin of the crank arm to the frame whereby oscillatory movements ofl the casingwill effect vibratory motions to the impeller blade.

6. In a washing machine, a casing, a perforated floor dividing Vthe interior of the casing into a sump and and a washing cham ber, a longitudinally disposed wall extending downwardly from said floor at approximately the midwidth of the casing, baiiles provided below the floor to provide a cavity between the floor and each of said balles and at each side of said wall, one of said baiiles being located at the front end and the other baffle at the rear end of the casing, a shaft extending through the sump at right angles to said wall, an impeller blade carried by said shaft, and means operating through the medium of said shaft to ei'l'ect vibratory motion to said impeller ,blade for forcing water into the respective cavities alternately and thence through the floor at' opposite sides of said Wall.

Signed at Seattle, Washington, this 20th day of March 1924.

SERN P. WATT.. Witnesses:

PIERRE BARNES, M. G. SUPPLE. 

